Among the childhood of characters in novels, the lives of David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and Philip Pirrip depict the significance of childhood experiences in shaping adult lives, exploring the childhood of differing individuals in the Victorian era. Written by the father of Victorian literature, Charles Dickens, the three bildungsroman novels—David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and Great Expectations—illustrate the childhood lives of three protagonists, exploring the growth of the characters that eventually shape their future. Throughout three varying novels, Charles Dickens illustrates distinct childhood experiences, with characters living in different life conditions and encountering diverse individuals. The social classes, surroundings, careers, and education of the three young protagonists eventually influence their future, shaping their personal values, characteristics, beliefs, and identities. By comparing and contrasting the formative years of the three boys, Dickens explores the impacts of childhood on adult destinies, revealing how their youth forge their identities and influence their journeys into adulthood. Despite the unique circumstances of the three boys, the childhood experiences of David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and Philip Pirrip play crucial roles in shaping their adult lives, illustrating the author’s exploration of family backgrounds, surroundings and experiences, career and education, and personal development in shaping one’s future.
In nineteenth-century England, the rigid social hierarchy is a symbol of the Victorian era, and through the illustration of the family background of the three protagonists, Charles Dickens explores the social class of the era and the situation of varying families in Victorian society. With all three boys introduced as orphans, their childhood is portrayed without the love and care of their parents. However, despite having deceased parents at a young age, the three boys’ circumstances are dissimilar due to their social class. For instance, David Copperfield was born in a high social class, with his father being a gentleman and his mother being a lady, so everyone calls him “Master David” despite his miserable childhood. On the other hand, although Oliver Twist is also born in a high social class, his social class is hidden as he is born into an orphan, causing him to be raised in the workhouse and cruelly treated by others. Philip Pirrip, or simply Pip, is born in the bottom class, so he longs for higher social status and is ambitious to be a gentleman. As the author reveals, different family backgrounds and social status influence one’s future, as one’s experiences, surroundings, and attitudes of other individuals are entirely different. For instance, during a conversation between Little Em’ly and David Copperfield, David realizes that there is a significant variation between Em’ly and him:
“But there were some differences between Em’ly’s orphanhood and mine, it appeared. She had lost her mother before her father; and where her father's grave was no one knew, except that it was somewhere in the depths of the sea.
‘Besides,’ said Em’ly, as she looked about for shells and pebbles, ‘your father was a gentleman and your mother is a lady; and my father was a fisherman and my mother was a fisherman's daughter, and my uncle Dan is a fisherman’” (David Copperfield, Chapter 3).
As Charles Dickens reveals, the family background of an individual influences one’s life, yet as he illustrates in the novel, although one’s life condition may vary from one’s social status, one's life situation and happiness may not solely depend on one’s social class. For instance, although Pip is in the low social class, he lives a childhood better than the other two children, who are born in a higher social hierarchy, as he has a caring brother-in-law to take care of him, while David experiences a miserable childhood with his stepfather and Oliver beaten and bullied in the workhouse. Through the illustration of differing family backgrounds in the Victorian era, Dickens explores the impacts of social class on an individual's life situations and the influences of one’s family background, illustrating the significance of one’s social status in the Victorian era and how it shapes one’s values and beliefs.
Throughout the three protagonists’ journey to maturity, their surroundings and unique experiences differ greatly, illustrating the lives of the Victorian era and how their personal journey and encounters shape their lives. The titular main character of David Copperfield’s childhood was carefree with his mother, yet after her death, he experienced abuse from his tyrannical stepfather, Mr. Murdstone. Throughout his youth, he experienced suffering at the Salem house, his friend Steerforth’s betrayal, and Uriah Heep’s manipulation, shaping him into a boy yearning for a place to belong. David Copperfield struggled to become a resilient and independent man, as his miserable childhood brought him challenges and impacted his values and beliefs, rendering his sympathy and causing him to exhibit chauvinistic attitudes toward the lower classes. Furthermore, Oliver Twist, grown up in a workhouse, lived in starvation and constant beating due to the establishment of the Poor Law. His childhood was portrayed under the harsh realities faced by paupers in the Victorian era, and his further encounter with the juvenile criminals reveals the societal neglect and economic disparity of the poor in the era. Oliver’s childhood influences his growth as the surroundings shape his innocence and resilience, illustrating the impact of the environment on an individual's development. Similarly, Pip’s meeting with Estella urges him to become a nobleman as he falls in love with her, while Estella criticizes his “common” upbringing after his first visit to the Havisham’s house, causing him to feel perturbed by his low social status:
“I thought how Joe and my sister were then sitting in a kitchen, and how Miss Havisham and Estella never sat in a kitchen but were far above the level of such common doings” (Great Expectations, Chapter 9).
As a result, Pip became eager to become a prosperous nobleman, causing him to be extravagant, contemptuous, and selfish when he became rich, neglecting Joe as he changed his social status and trying to avoid the lower class. Through the depiction of the three boys’ childhood experiences, Charles Dickens illustrates the impact of one’s experiences on individual behavior and relationships, highlighting the influences of childhood on one’s identity, morals, beliefs, and personality.
In Charles Dickens’s three novels, the protagonists experience numerous unique events throughout their growth, shaping their personal values and meeting various characters that impact their future. Although the three boys are all orphans in the Victorian era, they have experienced different education and worked in divergent careers throughout their youth, which shaped their future and impacted their personal values and characteristics. Born in the high social class, David Copperfield attended structured schools in his youth. However, his early education was miserable as his stepfather sent him to the Salem House, a school opened by his friend, Mr Creakle. As a result, David was treated with brutality by the teachers as he was tortured, beaten, and humiliated. During his childhood, he worked hard as a wine apprentice, yet he was low-paid by the owner, who was also a friend of Mr. Murdstone. His education improved in his youth after his encounter with Aunt Trotwood, and his attempt to be a proctor enabled him to be exposed to various facets of society, ultimately contributing to his personal development and career as an author. Oliver Twist, contrary to David Copperfield, was raised in a workhouse from birth. His lack of opportunity in the workhouse caused him minimal education, and his early career was marked by forced labor and hardship. Later, when he becomes involved in a gang of juvenile thieves led by Fagin, his innocence and strong sense of resilience are revealed. Oliver’s formative years, illustrated by lack of opportunity, highlight the harsh realities of the Victorian era and influence his character and personality. Unlike Oliver Twist, though Pip Pirrip comes from a lower-class family, he received an opportunity for education at Woopsle’s great aunt’s private tutoring school, which allowed him to be exposed to rudimentary schooling. Pip’s career initially was as an apprentice of his brother-in-law, a blacksmith, yet an unexpected fortune from an anonymous benefactor dramatically changed his life. After receiving the money, he moved to London to be a nobleman, but this sudden shift of social status challenges his characteristics, making him scornful to the working class and prodigal to impress Estella. As Charles Dickens depicts, the education and career characters experienced in their childhood shaped their lives, influencing their values and personalities and leading them towards self-discovery, enabling them to find their goals and identity.
Through the three protagonists’ journey during their youth, the experiences they encountered throughout their childhood influence their growth and development, impacting their lives and futures through numerous aspects. Due to their miserable childhood of David Copperfield, he is earnest in finding a family and spends time questioning his identity. The adversities he faced during his childhood enabled him to become resilient and learn through his problems, yet his family background also caused him to dislike the lower class, illustrating the significance of one’s childhood. Moreover, his depressing childhood impacted his growth, causing him to struggle to overcome the trauma of his past and “be the hero of [David’s]my own life.” Oliver Twist’s childhood also greatly impacted his youth, as his orphanhood caused him to grow up in the workhouse, experiencing starvation and torture, events he should not have endured as a child of a high social class:
“And what an excellent example of the power of dress young Oliver Twist was. Wrapped in the blanket that had hitherto formed his only covering, he might have been the child of a nobleman or a beggar; – it would have been hard for the haughtiest stranger to have fixed his station in society. But now he was enveloped in the old calico robes, that had grown yellow in the same service; he was badged and ticketed and fell into his place at once – a parish child – the orphan of a workhouse – the humble, half-starved drudge – to be cuffed and buffeted through the world, despised by all, and pitied by none” (Oliver Twist, Chapter 2).
Furthermore, Pip Pirrip's encounter with Estella also greatly affected his growth, effectuating him to be ambitious for a higher social status:
“What I wanted, who can say? How can I say, when I never knew? What I dreaded was, that in some unlucky hour, I, being at my grimiest and commonest, should lift up my eyes and see Estella looking in at one of the wooden windows of the forge. I was haunted by the fear that she would … exult over me and despise me” (Great Expectations, Chapter 14).
His abrupt shift in social status also causes him to become haughty and extravagant when he unexpectedly comes into money during his youth. Throughout the infancy of the three boys, Charles Dickens emphasizes that childhood experiences shape and influence their personal values, relationships, identity, values, morals, and personal satisfaction.
Charles Dickens’s three Bildungsroman novels—David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, and Great Expectations—illustrate the life of three orphans and explore life in the Victorian era, depicting society from numerous outlooks and how one's childhood greatly influences one’s life. Through the young protagonists, Dickens illustrates the varying opportunities of children born in different families, shaping them into distinct individuals. Through David, the author explores the life of a high social class, which differs remarkably from Pip Pirrip, an orphan at the bottom of the social hierarchy, illustrating the significance of one’s social class in one’s life. Victorian era’s unreasonable establishment of the Poor Law and the portrayal of the criminals in the era are revealed through the lens of Oliver, while the rigid social hierarchy and social immobility are revealed in David Copperfield, showing how characters in the Victorian era seek to climb to the high social class and how it determines one’s destiny. Similarly, through the eyes of Pip, his great expectation of being a gentleman demonstrates the significance of one’s encounter with characters, highlighting the consequences of childhood experiences. Through the illustration of the protagonists’ childhood, Charles Dickens depicts the multifaceted experiences of each boy, highlighting the enduring influences of early experiences on character development, revealing how one’s childhood impacts a person's values, personalities, relationships, and identity.
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